


Hiking

by HSavinien



Series: The Old Guard's Montana Adventure [2]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Gen, Guns, Hiking, Nature, Nile Freeman appreciation week, Nile Freeman-centric, POV Nile Freeman, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:55:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26367550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HSavinien/pseuds/HSavinien
Summary: Nile gets some alone time in nature.
Series: The Old Guard's Montana Adventure [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916143
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	Hiking

Nile wraps the scarf tighter around her hair and adjusts her sunglasses, peering up at the climb ahead of her. It isn't a cliff. There's a definite slant to the ground, it's not just vertical. There's dirt packed in between rocks, small bushes and wild grasses growing between sparse trees, but it's steep enough to make her careful. Even if she would walk away from the fall, she doesn't enjoy healing from a broken neck. And she'd land in the river and all her stuff would get wet, which is more inconvenient.

There's a zig-zagging, narrow, dirt path of a sort. It's more of a deer track than anything, at least she thinks it is; she still hasn't spent a ton of time in wilderness that isn't desert. She follows the track, scrambling up it half on hands and knees, half using the deeper-rooted chunks of grass to pull herself up. One tuft of grass breaks free in her hand, and she wavers off balance before she drops to her knees and manages to tip herself forward into the dirt. She rolls over onto her back to take a minute for her heart to slow down. The sky is a blue almost shocking after last night’s storm, with only a faint wisp of cloud on the horizon, and everything smells like baking grass. 

Once the adrenaline stops zinging around her system, Nile sits back up, brushing bits of plants off her shirt. A couple of ants investigate her arm and she flicks them off. One of the plants left a cut across her hand, a purple flower with a woody, fibrous stem. She watches it heal up, then starts climbing again, digging her boots deeper into the soil as she goes. 

At the crest of the ridge she sits again, looking out over the valley. The trees are mostly pines and firs, dull green against the lighter grasses and undergrowth. The air is clearer than she's used to; they've been in a lot of cities recently. It tastes different than Afghanistan. The valley stretches for miles, with the mountains looming taller and taller on the opposite side as they disappear into the distance. They go hazy after a while, with heat distortion or what, she's not sure, but it looks cool. 

She left the others back at the parking lot near the trailhead. Nile's still getting the hang of their brand of teamwork, which is at the same time super closeknit and very independent. This time Andy and Nicky are taking point, with Joe as close backup and her in reserve with her new sniper rifle. She doesn't mind the break, honestly. She really loves them all, deeply and more quickly than she would have expected, but it's good to get some time by herself. They're intense personalities, even when they're just hanging out quietly. 

She checks her watch and the map Andy sketched for her. Plenty of time to hike the last mile and a half before they'll make contact and need her there with a scope, watching their backs. She can take a few minutes to enjoy nature. 


End file.
